Montana Adventure

Family vacations are fun for me. I don't mean it sarcastically either. My family is FUNNY and the vacations are FUN. We left last Wedesday for Missoula, MT and spent the week in Whitefish with my brother, SIL Sara, their unborn child, my mom and her husband. Instead of chronicling our time, I thought I would just post some lessons learned.

Lessons learned while vacationing in Montana:

1. Washington State patrol doesn't care if you don't have cruise control. They don't care about anything really...except bruising my soul with a $175 ticket.

2. I don't know how families road tripped successfully previous to the invention of the DVD player.

3. Jordan and I can be creative when confined in a car for 10 hours. Here are the following terms we created for people that live in Missoula...we don't know or care which one is actually correct. Missoulians, Missoulagorians, Missoulorinthians, Missourangatangs, Missoulippians.

4. You can be instant friends with people before ever actually meeting in real life. Gloria, Chris, Elizabeth, Craig, Noah, Katie and Lolo....thanks for letting us be part of your family. (I remembered all those names without referencing facebook BTW)

5. I am a bona fide mountain biker.

6. My husband is a very very very good mountain biker...and he looks sexy in action.

7. Grizzly bears hide very well in their country. Tree stumps can look like a grizzly bear and scare bona fide mountain bikers.

8. In Glacier National Park, chipmunks think they are actually the same size as the griz. They are fearless and majestic...they also seems to appreciate my singing.

9. My stepdad may actually be part griz due to his deep desire of all things huckleberry.

10. When I say the word "griz" in Montana then I feel like I fit in.

11. Some families talk politics, some entertainment, we however choose to debate biblical and medical ethics for hours. Then we laugh at hot pockets.

12. My mom is my favorite woman in the world. I could just sit in her presense without speaking and feel satisfied.

13. When I hear my brother talk about his love for Christ, I am overwhelmed with every spiritual emotion.

We really loved Montana and can't wait for the next trip! This was the conversation while pulling into our neighborhood last night after 10 fun filled hours in the car:

Austen: "Mom, are you so excited that we are back home now?"

Me: "Yes baby I am very excited."

Austen: "Well, I'm not."

Me: "Why not, sweets?"

Austen: "Because Uncle Matt and Aunt Sara are still in Montana."

Glacier National Park

I blog when I want.

I am secure enough to know that I am not witty enough to blog on a frequent basis. Mostly it's because I have nothing interesting enough to say. HOWEVER, this weekend was the most interesting/fun/exceptional/awesome/appreciated I have had in a while. Leah and Gracyn came to stay with us for a few days and here is our journey of love. The pictures are totally out of order. I haven't figured out who is dumber...me or blogspot. Beware, your computer may in fact be crashing at this very moment due to the insane quantity of pics I uploaded. Sorry about that.

There is so much joy that it is unbelievable.

Ian. How stinkin cute are you?!

Rachel, Mily and G handed out the bday love.

Ballerina in training.

Landon is in training for something else...professional caloric intake master.

Cute kids eating cupcakes the sizes of small baby's heads.

Seriously...do they not look 16 years old? What is happening?

Ian beware...she is cute but she will attack.

Hiking with the Aunt Tops and Uncle Joels.

Deuce coup.

Oh yeah...that happened. There is no shame in the deuce coup.

This is what NW peeps do when it doesn't rain...play in the fountain. We get confused when dry.

He's on a boat.

A and G on their very first roller coaster ride. They chose front seat b/c they are hard core.

Cheesin it up in front of AGCI.

Not too much longer!

The view from the rooftop of Joel and Sara's crib.

Who needs a car when you have blue Papa?

Reunited BFFs. They never skipped a beat.

There are so many things that I loved about this weekend...I can't even put it into words. Some friendships are so sweet that explanations and adjectives only do a disservice. I have no idea why God would gift such people in my life. I am wholly un-deserving.

Today is the day!

I can't believe it!  I have gone from fear, to sadness, to complete excitement today!  A couple last minute things I wanted to share.

Communications:  This is going to be a social networking nightmare for some of you, but here are the options...

Twitter:  www.twitter.com/haititeam09  ---  This is our team's twitter account. It will randomly updated with the Haiti happenings.

Blogs:  simplyjy.wordpress.com  ---  This is Jordan's blog and he will update whatever communications the two of us are able to have

sarahcase.wordpress.com --- This is one our team members who will be blogging while we are there.  She has taken multiple trips to this same site and has plenty of valuable insight I'm sure!

I found out from T-mobile that there is chance I may have "some" service with my trusty blackberry.  It will cost me $2/minute to make calls.  35 cents to send a text and FREE to receive a text!  So I will only call/text Jordan when able but if you want to send me one, then I may actually be able to read it.

Okay...I have one more hour with my family so I am closing this computer and kissing babies.

Haiti FAQ

I will be leaving on Thursday afternoon for a much anticipated trip to Haiti to work with a medical team. I get a lot of questions about this and I thought I would take the time write out my answers here.

When is your trip?
I leave March 5 and come back March 15.

What will you be doing there?
I'll be working with a team of about 15 people offering medical care to a village of people who otherwise have no access to care. We will be seeing people for whatever issue they may walk in the door with. We treat them the best way possible with the means available. The clinic has a pharmacy full of medications and we try to give each person is given a bag of rice.

Who are you going with?
A team from my church, Mosaic, who is teaming with the Haiti Foundation of Hope. There is good info on the HFH website!

How much does it cost and how did you pay for it?
Total cost is $1700. Our families were very generous this Christmas :)

What if you die/get AIDS/get kidnapped? Isn't Haiti dangerous?
This question may seem kind of funny...but it could be the most common question. What if I do? It is obviously not my goal or plan to become sick, stolen or dead. The leader of the team we are going with has been travelling to Haiti for 25 years. They lived there for 2 of those years. There are a number of precautions we are taking to protect ourselves and I take that very seriously. I work in an area of nursing where bodily fluids flow freely at will. It will not be a new concept to protect myself from that!

Why Haiti anyways?
My answer may not satisfy some people. God placed Haiti on Jordan and I's hearts over a year ago. Since college I have been exposed to mission opportunities, taken mission trips and heard hundreds of missionary stories. While I felt propelled to help in some way with these trips and stories...rarely did my heart break for them. I am saddened by a lot of things, but not moved into action. In summertime of 2007 when I started reading some of the blogs listed on the bottom right of my blogroll...(the Haiti ones and the Ivey's) I literally could not stop myself from being consumed by it. God was molding and shaping my heart for those people for some weird reason. I convinced Jordan to read the stories I was seeing, so we read and we cried and we prayed. We still don't know what that all means, but when we moved back up here and visited a church who had a partership with Haiti and was taking a medical team there in March...it was obvious to us what our first move would be. I honestly believe this is just the first step to what He is doing in us.

What about your kids?
Teaching the kids about this trip has probably been the best part so far. Let's be honest, Noelle is 2 she doesn't know what the crap is going on. Landon is about to turn 4 and he is very much aware of things, but no so great at processing the why's and how's. Austen is 5 and needs to know every detail about everything everywhere all the time. We have been talking casually about Haiti for over a year now, so when the idea came up of me going...they just expected it. We talk about how fortunate we are to have food, housing, medicine, mommies and daddies and school. We talk about how God has given us those things to be His hands and feet. We were not chosen to have these things because of good things we or our parents do. By His grace, we have been provided for and by His grace we will continue to provide for the needs of others. It's simple really.

Are you scared?
Yes, of dumb stuff mostly. Nothing to do with kidnapping or HIV. I am afraid that I will be dysfunctional after not being able to kiss my husband and babies for 10 days.

What can I do to help?
You can pray for us. I have an excellent prayer letter that I would love to send anyone who wants it. It outlines what we will be doing and where we will be day by day. You can also call my husband and be sure he hasn't listed any of the kids (Landon) on craigslist. Maybe even cook him a meal or bless his heart bring him coffee. If you don't live near us then just call him to let him know you love him and be willing to assess his mental status.

How did this happen?

How did this teeny tiney little 5 pound baby turn in to a crazy pot bellied 2 year old girl? I can't believe it.

Spiritual advising

I have told a few people about this conversation the boys had the other day in the car, but it just keeps getting funnier.

Setting: My car, me driving, and boys in the back seat. Going to a friends house.

It is mostly quiet and then Austen starts with the questioning...

Austen: Mom, do you know who some people love more than anyone in the world?

Me: Who is that?

A: Jesus.

Me: That's true, some people do love Him more than anything. I do.

A: Me too.

(Enter Landon)

Landon: I don't love Jesus. I don't love boys. I only love girls. I only love one boy and that is McQueen.

A: Landon, yes you do love Jesus. He lives in your heart and He talks to you and you love Him!

L: (voice a bit louder) NO Austen, I don't love Jesus. I can't hear Him with my ears and He does not talk to me! I only love girls!

A: (now screaming a bit) Landon, yes Jesus does talk to you. He talks in your heart and that's why you can't hear Him with your ears. He talks to your heart!

L: (his loudest most irritated voice) I do not love Jesus and I can not hear Him!!!!!!!!

A: (addressing me this time, quietly and soft) Mom, don't worry. Landon does love Jesus in his heart, he just doesn't want to say it, but I know that he does.

L: (screaming at this point) I can NOT hear Jesus with my heart or my ears Austen, stop saying that to me!

A: (Louder than any TBN preacher you've ever imagined) Landon, Jesus does talk to you in your heart and He is talking to you RIGHT NOW. He is saying "Landon, STOP COMPLAINING"

I decided to interject at this pivotal point before Austen demanded that Landon close his eyes and raise his hand.

So that was about a week or 2 ago and then today while at the table coloring Landon proceeded with this conversation:

Landon: Mom, we can never be God.

Me: That's true baby. There is only one God and we are His people. He made us and He loves us.

Landon: Yeah. (short pause then he yells to Austen in the other room) Austen is that true?

Austen: Yeah Landon that's true.

Landon: Oh. Can God turn people in to pieces of paper?

Me: He won't do that to you, sweets.

L: Oh (short pause) Austen is that true?

A: Well, God CAN turn your in to paper, but He won't. God can do anything.

L: Yeah, God can do anything.

So I stand corrected. I thought for sure Austen had lost his effective witness to Landon that brimstone and fire day in the car. But apparently he has gained respect and became Landon's closest spiritual advisor.